Friday 10-11-2017 - 12:00

Cup week has arrived. The most dreaded, yet highly anticipated week in BUCS. There’s a sense of pressure that surrounds cup week and our sports teams were definitely feeling nervous as they prepared to take on their opposition. They knew they had to prove themselves and show everyone just how amazing they really are. It was another hectic week, but who doesn’t like being busy eh? (The answer is me. Trust me, organising BUCS Cup week is hard). But all of the organising was totally worth it and you’ll see why…

*Word of warning, it’s a long ‘un. You might want to grab a drink or a snack before you begin*

Our teams that competed included; Hockey, Netball, Football Rugby League, Basketball, Badminton, American Football and Tennis. Once again, we had a lot of our fixtures at home. This created such a buzz around the University and we had plenty of support coming from teammates, students and even players’ family members! Having this many positive people around campus was fantastic and created a real sense of community as they were all there supporting #TeamEdgeHill (you’re probably all sick of me using this hashtag by now, but I LOVE it. So it’s here to stay).

Anyway, onto the first fixture that kicked off Cup week… Women’s Hockey. Our 1^st team faced a fierce opposition in the form of the University of Leeds. In a (slightly) dramatic and frustrating twist, Leeds only turned up with 9 players (for reference, Hockey usually play with 11) and this meant that our girls had to drop their level (as Leeds were the weaker team). However, in true Edge Hill style the girls managed to keep their heads in the game and didn’t let this affect their performances. They completely dominated the game and with the help of a few fantastic goals, they managed to come away with an astonishing 10-0 win!! Goal scorers were Anna with 5, Sophie with 4 (who also got man of the match) and Beth with 1. Unfortunately for Jenny, she received “d*ck of the day” for hitting multiple balls into the opposition’s bodies (doesn’t sound too enjoyable for the opposition). But enough about that… because of this, the girls progress into the next round of the cup. How amazing is that!

Our Men’s Rugby Union team were equally as successful. They were playing away against the University of York or as our men’s team put it, it was “a war of the roses”. Going into the battlefield, Edge Hill were coming from back to back strong performances or as our team described it, they were “riding the crest of the wave of a very successful start to the season” (they were either drunk when they wrote their match report or they just love some imagery on a Wednesday evening). Onto the first half of the game, both teams had prolonged spells in opposition halves after exchanging early penalties. Thankfully Edge Hill were the first to cross the white wash, with a try from close range coming from a good build-up of play. Our boys managed to get to half time with a strong 8-3 lead. They re-emerged from the break with clear instructions from their coaches. It was simply put that if they play their game, the result will come. Well, that’s exactly what they did. Further tries from James Price, Andy Adams and another masterful performance from Ratcliffe, secured the 28-15 win. This means the boys are through to the next round of the cup. Hooray!

Women’s Football and Netball were also among the winners this week. Starting with Football. They faced an experienced UCFB Women’s team, but they didn’t let that stop them!! Our girls put in a dominating performance and came away with a 10-0 win. And no, that wasn’t a typo. 10-0 was in fact, the final score. Goal scorers were; Ella Hartley with 3, Chelsey Jukes with 2, Cara Bickett with 2, Chloe Green also with 2 and Annabel Ainscough with 1. They're going through to the next round in style!

Our Women’s Netball game was also goals galore. They were playing away at Keele University and faced a tougher game than expected. The first quarter was hard fought and ended as a 9-9 drawer. The girls knew they had to get their heads down and work harder than ever to bring home the win. They did just that. At half time, the score was 24-20 to us. They pushed through the second half as they wanted the cup to be theirs (once again) and finished with a strong 52-36 win. Amazing girls! They’re through to the next round and remain unbeaten in all competitions.

Our Badminton teams also put in strong performances, but not every team was as fortunate as Women’s Netball and Football. Starting with the winners. Our Men’s and Women’s 1^st teams both came away with easy wins in the end. For the men, after such a long journey to Hull they showed no signs of tiring as they powered through and put solid efforts in from both the singles and doubles pairings. The women, who were expecting a fiery match, ended with a pretty tame game (great rhyme). The girls came away with an easy 7-1 win and made sure that they showed sportsmanship throughout. Well-deserved wins from both teams. Onto the unfortunate teams that are sadly out of the cup. Our Men’s and Women’s 2^nd teams. They were both such close games, which makes the losses even harder to take. From the men, there were some super cross court drop shots and from the women, there were blossoming singles and doubles pairings. So it can only get better from here on out! A huge well done to all.

Now, it’s back to Hockey (and I promise this match report is nearly over, keep hanging in there). Hockey were very busy this week, having all three teams playing in the Cup, so now we have the Women’s 2^nd and Men’s 1^st team results for you. The Women’s 2^nd team knew they had some stiff competition in Leeds Beckett, but they went out onto the field with their always positive, can-do attitudes. It was a hard fought battle from both ends, with our girls on the receiving end of some frustrating aggression and despite their best efforts, it was a 5-0 loss for our team. Unfortunate, but it doesn’t make us any less proud of them! Chins up girls. You can focus on the next league game now. On a lighter note, Lois received the famous “d*ck of the day”. Now we don’t know what she received it for, but we can still imagine her having to do something embarrassing at Social as her forfeit (poor Lois!).

Finally, our Men’s Hockey 1^st team is up. For their sakes, I wish it was better news (sorry, spoiler alert). They were playing away to Northumbria University and as expected, it was a very difficult game. Edge Hill started the game off strong. They had great passing play which lead to well-earned pressure on the opposition. Jac Horwood scored the opening goal after a pass through the opposition from Dan Thomas. They were onto a win! 1-0 to us. Unfortunately, Northumbria responded and they did so with three quick goals (all close range deflections). The boys were at a 3-1 loss and the opposition’s reaction panicked our boys. Amazingly, it was Matthew Stacey to the rescue! He drove down the baseline and smashed the ball across to Nick Fletcher who brought the score back to 3-2. Once again, fantastic teamwork from our boys. A lot of midfield battles later and good performances from both sides, Edge Hill conceded a fourth goal and Northumbria increase their lead to 4-2. Disheartening for our boys after such great performances, but still they carried on. They went into half time with a positive attitude and were hoping to finish the game with a comeback. However, two short corner goals from the opposition lead to an ever bigger lead (6-2). This seemed like the end, but our boys kept their heads down and a quick break away lead to Sam Butler feeding Nick Fletcher on the left-hand-side of the D and with a lovely reverse hit through the keeper’s legs, they brought the score back to 6-3, to which it stayed as the final score. Such a promising performance from Edge Hill, but they just couldn’t get it back in time. We’re still so, so proud of them. What a way to end their time in the Cup. That is how it’s done.

Even though two of our Hockey teams lost this week, their attitudes were admirable. They were able to take the positives out the games and can be proud of themselves for what they achieved. Amazing!

We also have brief summaries of our other BUCS fixtures from Wednesday:

• Men’s Rugby League 1^st’s won 30-18 against Northumbria
• Men’s Football 2^nd’s lost 5-0 against Northumbria
• Men’s Basketball 1^st’s was a close one as they lost 88-73 to Sunderland
• Men’s Football 1^st’s beat UCLAN 3-0
• Women’s Rugby Union 1^st unfortunately lost 28-15 to York
• Women’s Netball 3^rd’s also lost to Leeds Beckett 42-30
• However Women’s Netball 2^nd’s beat Manchester 52-46
• Women’s Basketball 1^st’s lost 88-28 to Leeds
• And Men’s Tennis 1^st’s sadly lost 8-4 to Manchester

Despite the fact we’ve lost a few teams to the devil that is Cup week, I know that our sports teams won’t stay disheartened for too long! You’ve all done so well to get as far as you have. Take the positives from the losses and go win your next matches!! You’ve got this. Can’t wait to see how you get on next week.

#TeamEdgeHill